Ingredients
| EMPANADA DOUGH | |
| 220ml cold water | |
| 140ml olive oil | |
| 12g fine salt | |
| 500g high-grade flour | |
| FILLING | |
| 20g butter | |
| 50g onions, sliced | |
| 250g sweetcorn kernels plus 250g charred sweetcorn kernels | |
| 5g sea salt | |
| 100ml milk | |
| 6g nutritional yeast | |
| 100g manchego, grated | |
| 300g queso fresco (fresh cheese) – can be a combination of ricotta, feta, mozzarella or stracciatella in equal parts) | |
| 10g fresh oregano leaves | |
| 1 egg & 1 egg yolk, whisked for eggwash | |
| uncreamed liquid honey (rewarewa, blue borage, mild mānuka, clover), to serve | |
| Tajin seasoning (available in Mexican and South American stores such as pachamama.co.nz, or substitute a sprinkle of smoked paprika & a grating of lime zest), to serve |
These empanadas are inspired by a Galician-style empanada dough and construction (baked as a large pie rather than individual folded pastries) matched with the flavour profile of American-Spanish street corn.
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Instructions
| 1. | EMPANADA DOUGH |
| 2. | Put the water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook then add all remaining ingredients. |
| 3. | Knead for 8 minutes or until the dough has developed and is elastic to the touch. |
| 4. | Remove from the bowl into a greased tray or container, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. |
| 5. | Use a small amount of flour to dust a work surface then roll the dough to a 2-3mm thickness. |
| 6. | If the dough resists rolling and is shrinking back, leave it to rest for 10 minutes before continuing to roll out. |
| 7. | Once the dough is rolled, refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to assemble the empanadas. |
| 8. | FILLING |
| 9. | Melt the butter in a pot on a medium heat and gently cook the onions without letting them colour, about 10 minutes. |
| 10. | Once the onions are soft, add the uncharred sweetcorn, sea salt and milk. |
| 11. | Cook until the milk has reduced by two-thirds and the sweetcorn is tender, about 20 minutes. |
| 12. | Remove from the heat, add the nutritional yeast and manchego, and purée in a blender or food processor. |
| 13. | Fold in the charred sweetcorn kernels and refrigerate until ready to assemble. |
| 14. | Heat the oven to 250℃ fan bake. |
| 15. | Lightly grease some oven trays – you can either use six round 23cm pizza trays or two trays about 33cm x 23cm. |
| 16. | Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut to the size of your chosen trays; you’ll need both tops and bottoms so cut 12 pieces if using six pizza trays, or cut 4 pieces if using sheet pans. |
| 17. | Line the trays with dough; the dough is elastic and can be stretched to fit. |
| 18. | Divide the sweetcorn filling between the trays and spread evenly, then scatter over the queso fresco mixture and the oregano. |
| 19. | Place the pastry tops over the filling and stretch so the top and bottom pastry meet, and press or crimp together to seal. |
| 20. | Trim the excess from the edges of the tray and score the top of the pastry. |
| 21. | Brush with the egg wash and bake for 12-15 minutes. |
| 22. | Remove from the oven, brush with honey while hot, then season with sea salt and Tajin. |
Recipes and food styling Jo Pearson / Photography Tony Nyberg